Campus Chaos

An object fashioned to look like a bomb resulted in chaos on the Mahopac Middle School-High School campus, forcing the emergency evacuation of students and staff.

A school groundskeeper spotted the package last Friday afternoon around 2:20pm as 57 busses were picking up students at the conclusion of the school day. Putnam County Sheriff’s Department Captain William McNamara described it as an “improvised explosive device.”

Superintendent Thomas Manko told the COURIeR the package was found along a driveway that connects the middle school with the high school. Manko said the grounds-man notified School Resource Officer Deputy Sheriff Thomas Lewis, who immediately contacted school administrators.

An order was issued to “clear the campus” of students and faculty. Teachers escorted students to the nearby Mahopac Falls Elementary School through a rear passageway where buses had gathered to take the children home.

In the meantime, members of the Carmel Police Department were joined by reinforcements from the Sheriff’s Department, who secured the entire school campus along Baldwin Place Road as calls went out for the Westchester County Bomb Squad to respond to Mahopac along with a highly specialized team of explosives experts from the MTA Police. The Putnam 911 Dispatch Center also notified the Mahopac Falls FD to mobilize with several engines and ambulances standing by.

Capt. McNamara said when the bomb squads arrived technicians used portable X-ray equipment to examine the suspicious parcel where it was determined to be fake. Manko said the package contained nuts and bolts.

Bomb-sniffing dogs and police canines from the Sheriff’s Department, Carmel Police, MTA Police, and the Westchester County Department of Public Safety swept both buildings for other devices but found nothing out of the ordinary.

Capt. McNamara said the investigation into who placed the package on campus is continuing this week. Manko said those responsible for the hoax will be prosecuted to the “fullest extent of the law.”

Meanwhile, Sheriff’s Chief Investigator A. Gerald Schramek has asked anyone with information about the incident to call the Sheriff’s Office at 225-4300 or Carmel Police at 628- 1300.

Manko thanked the emergency responders and police for their “professionalism and rapid response.” He also expressed appreciation to the school’s staff and administration for its quick actions by evacuating those on campus when the alarm was first sounded.

No injuries were reported.